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BREEDING MANGOES FOR AUSTRALIAN CONDITIONS

Authors

A. W. Whiley, Peter E. Mayers, Jack B. Saranah, John P. Bartley

Abstract

Mango production in Australia is a rapidly growing industry producing fruit mainly for the domestic market.
The dominant industry cultivar, Kensington Pride (syn. ‘Kensington’) has an extended market supply due to production over a wide environmental range (from latitude 12°S to 30°S). Despite industry commitment to this cultivar, ‘Kensington’ bears irregularly, is susceptible to anthracnose (Colletotrichum gloeosporioides var minor) and bacterial black spot (Xanthomonascampestris pv. mangiferaeindicae) and has a comparatively short post-harvest life compared to other mango cultivars.

Opportunities exist through breeding to develop a new cultivar which retains the characteristic flavour of ‘Kensington’ but has improved productivity, greater disease resistance, enhanced skin colour and better post-harvest performance.
These features are found in the Florida cultivars, viz. ‘Irwin’, ‘Sensation’ and ‘Tommy Atkins’, which are being used as maternal parents crossed with ‘Kensington’.

Investigations have shown that the dominant leaf and fruit volatile in ‘Kensington’ responsible for its unique flavour is terpinolene.
Characterisation of leaf volatile profiles using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC/MS) has shown significant differences between cultivars.
This technique has potential for the identification of genetic re-combination in progeny, particularly with respect to the detection of significant concentrations of terpinolene.